At the Nov. 19 Charter Review Committee meeting staff summarized drafting conventions, benchmarking plans and logistics for upcoming subcommittee meetings.

Staff emphasized plain language and consistency: expand a short list of defined terms so the charter reads more clearly, but ensure drafting meets legal standards so any changes will withstand challenge. Staff told members to bear in mind that the ballot question itself is limited to 75 words and the city attorney’s impartial analysis to 500 words when framing voter materials.

On process, staff proposed three levels of change: Level 1 (non‑substantive corrections, reorganization, added defined terms), Level 2 (policy and procedure changes to align the charter with law and current practice) and Level 3 (politically sensitive restructuring of government or significant structural changes). Staff said the committee’s "sweet spot is our level 1 and level 2 changes with level 3 changes… ones we want to be wary of and identify, you know, for ourselves and for council." (staff quote)

For benchmarking, staff said they are assembling charters from roughly 121 California charter cities and will curate a subset of model charters for comparative review; they will circulate the Chula Vista packet used in a recent successful charter review as a practical example. Staff also discussed options to ease scheduling—asking each subcommittee to nominate a single point of contact to request rooms and asking staff to circulate available dates or a shared spreadsheet because internal Outlook calendars cannot be shared.

Staff confirmed some upcoming venue changes: the Dec. 17 meeting will be held at the central library Redwood Room (not in City Council Chambers) and staff reminded members that late‑December staff availability is limited.